I picked this up on a whim for cheap and I must say that for under a 100 dollars it is a great deal. I use this guy to arrange songs and try out new ideas, about 80% of the presets are very disappointing, the 909 and 808 samples sound good, the filter and envelope open up the presets quite a bit. The presets patterns sound very dated but then again I'm not a big electronic music fan. I like that it is super portable, I can take it anywhere and work out ideas for songs. If you are interested in electronic music and synthesis this can be very fun, definitely a good whim purchase if found at a good price.

I see this as more of a gimmicky toy than a serious piece of studio gear. I hated the whole concept of "The Groovebox' when they came out in the mid-90's. Even hated the name.. :)

I've been commenting on a few posts lately, so it wouldn't be right to not say a few things about my mc-303 as well.

When it comes down to it, Roland focused to much on quantity over quality. It has a few pads that sound really nice, as well as some decent sh-101 samples.

But where this thing shines is the percussion. All the 909 samples are great (except the closed hi-hat which i never need anyway)
Very nice 808 and 606 samples too. I have a problem with the strength of the sounds at times but just max out the volume and it sounds fine.

I love my mc-303. Despite the drawbacks.

I don't think the MC303 is a bad machine, in fact, many people have started their carriers with this funny little fella. True, the presets are a little cheesy and it can be a bugger to get used to at first, but once you start to get used to playing out your own sounds and it's interface, it turns out to be a good little unit stand alone or as part of a bigger set-up. whever you are starting out and want a cheap but effective groovebox to get you on your way or have a good set up but would like some nice but cost effective old skool sounds,then this could be just the thing for you!!!!

when in multimode (turning on while playmode button is pressed ) it can be a nice expander in your midi setup when you know how to use the sysex parameters in your software sequencer (cubase, logic etc) .
i`ve made a mixer map with cubase on atari st and was able to edit every parameter for each channel, even single keys on drumkits. you,´ll probably have to study the owner`s manual and some math but it`s worth if you have one of these !o)